My fiance and I are spending our honeymoon in Italy and the Greek Isles at the beginning of June. I plan on taking lots of pictures so I never forget this trip! We've been looking into entry level DSLR's and then a coworker of mine mentioned the Sony Cybershot HX1. Any thoughts?
Also, is having a Netbook to download pictures a good idea? I don't want to travel with a ton of electronics but want to make sure we have our pictures saved and can take as many as we want.
I have no opinion of the camera, but assume it must use some kind of removable storage device.
I'd just buy a couple of extra of those since they're a bazillion times smaller than a netbook.
If you want to lug the computer for some other reason, fine; you could kill two bushes with one bird and be done with it.
If you want to bring a big DSLR that's fine.
If you want to bring a netbook, that's fine too
However, bringing a netbook for simply storing photo's doesn't make sense.
Digital camera's have removable storage cards. They are extremly small and cheap. A netbook is expensive, fairly heavy (2-3lbs) and is going to be targetted to be stollen.
instead of buying one large sd card, but 3 or 4 4gbs and change them out daily. If you are really worried about losing photo's, go to internet cafe's and upload to free photo share sights or go to drug stores and have your pictures burned to dvd's and shipped home.
DOn't waste your money and effort on bringing a netbook just for photo storage. If you needed it for booking hostels or trains that would be one thing
When we travel I worry about losing my camera or video camera so I always have my NC10 netbook to download to each night. Then I'm in easy email land, too, as many hotels and cafes have free or low priced wifi.
Laura,
I've been travelling with a dSLR for the last few years, as photography is an important component of my travels. Despite the size and weight, I will continue to haul my Camera gear around Europe. I use Canon gear, so not familiar with the Sony products. You might also have a look at the new T2i.
I'd highly recommend buying the dSLR ASAP, so that you can become somewhat familiar with it. There is definitely a "learning curve" with that type of Camera, and in order to get the best results you'll need to have some idea how it works.
Memory Cards are relatively cheap at the moment, so be sure to have enough for "reasonable" storage capacity. The capacity will depend somewhat on your "shooting style" and Camera settings. For example, shooting RAW + JPEG creates fairly large file sizes for each photo, so larger memory cards are a good idea. If you just want "snapshots", then using JPEG only is fine (each compressed image will be ~3-4 MB, so you'll be able to fit lots on a card). With a dSLR I wouldn't use anything less than a 4GB card.
The subject of backup storage for photos during travel is always a hotly debated topic here on the HelpLine. Everyone seems to have a preferred method. My preference is to use multiple Memory Cards as well as some form of backup storage. I've also decided to travel with a Netbook this year (for the first time). The 250GB HD will provide lots of storage capacity.
As each Memory Card is filled, I back it up and then store the card in a "safe" location (separate from the Camera). That way I have both the backup images on the HD as well as the original card. I have enough cards that I can usually last for the trip without having to re-use the Card. However my trip this year will be longer, so will have to see if I can use the same method this time.
I'll also be in Greece and the islands in May & June (among other locations).
Finally, congratulations!
I have a Nikon DSLR that I love! I am a huge photo person as well (partially since my job is digital scrapbooking) but I would caution you on a few things with a DSLR and netbook.
If you have not used a DSLR before there is quite a learning curve to getting it to shoot the quality of images that it is capable of shooting. If you really want to go this way I would recommend getting one right away so that you can familiarize yourself over the next month or so.
Also, the DSLRs are much larger then traditional point and shoot cameras, and therefore a little more difficult to lug around everywhere you go. Plus if you want to use extra lenses you will have an even bigger bag to lug around with you.
As far as the storage of photo ideas I agree with some of the earlier posts; you should get a number of memory cards so that you can have all your images in different locations, just in case one gets lost or stolen. And you can also upload to the photo websites like picassa so that you have them stored on line as well.
For my 2 week 10 year anniversary trip we decided to buy a little point and shoot, that has good quality of course, but since we are using R.S. through the back door philosophy and packing light the DSLR has to be left at home. It pains me that I won't have my favorite camera, but I get annyoed at the weight and bulk of it sometimes when I am out for just the day so I know for 2 weeks on the move it would not be the best choice for me personally.
Just my two cents!
Whatever you decide, get the camera you are going to take with you soon so you get really comfortable with it and all of its settings.
Chantielle,
"but since we are using R.S. through the back door philosophy and packing light the DSLR has to be left at home"
RS philosophy or not, I WILL NOT leave my dSLR at home! After all, even Rick travels with a dSLR now!
Cheers!
You might want to check out the new line of Olympus PEN cameras. I took an EP-1 to Italy last year and it was barely more cumbersome than a large point-and-shoot, with the quality and controls of a DSLR. They have a new model that is even more entry level, for about $600 (EPL-1). Worth checking out to see if it would fit your needs.
i think the packing light philosophy can be looked at like this--take ONLY what is important to you (and, you could even add, make sure it fits into one small bag). so if 'what is important to you' is quality photography (and you have photography skills, which i wish i had!) then yes, take a DSLR. you'll just have to leave something else at home to make room for it, and only you know what that something is. i'm taking a netbook, because writing is very, very important to me. because of this, i'm taking only one pair of shoes and nothing beauty related. someone might really, really want to have their curling iron because they have difficult hair (and this does exist!), or a pair of really good clarks because they have difficulty walking long distances pain free, but perhaps this person does not care about photography or writing. they'd obviously pick according to their own needs. as for the netbook to store photos--i don't know if i'd personally take it just for pictures, but i don't know that you'll take it and ONLY use it for pictures, even if that's your only goal right now. again, a personal choice, and the best thing is that you're thinking about it right now, before you leave for your trip. planning is very important in packing light, so i'm sure you'll be fine. have a great honeymoon--and great choice of location!
Tracy,
"as for the netbook to store photos--i don't know if i'd personally take it just for pictures"
The nice thing about a Netbook is that it's a "multi-function device", capable of not only storing photos but also allowing writing, blogging, Skype calls, storing Itinerary or other travel documents, etc.
Given the small size and ease of carrying, I'm really looking forward to travelling with one this year. Having a Netbook also means I won't have to deal with those annoying foreign Keyboards!
Regarding the dSLR - "you'll just have to leave something else at home to make room for it"
Not necessarily! My solution this year was to buy a larger Backpack! AT LAST, Rick has met someone that's packing heavier than they did last year!
However, I should clarify my reasons for packing more this time. I'm attending a Photography Workshop so will need more gear than usual (including a Tripod). The equipment I'm taking this time is certainly not my "normal" travel kit. If I can afford another trip next year, I'm sure I'll be back to the usual packing list.
Cheers!
I'm taking an iPad to back up my photos. It's 1.5 pounds (a savings of about 5 pounds from my notebook computer). I looked into netbooks but they seem to run around 3-4 pounds (?) ... so not much of a weight savings there. And, since this is an 'untried' means of backup, we'll be using a couple of other methods as well.
keri,
"I looked into netbooks but they seem to run around 3-4 pounds (?)
The Netbook I'm using (Toshiba NB-305) is only about 2.5 lbs. so not too much more than the IPad. I need a fairly large capacity for photo storage, so the 250 GB HD in the Netbook works well for that.
As far as the IPad goes for photo backup...Won't you run out of space fairly quickly on it unless you shoot the smallest sized JPEGS available?
That is my main reason for not buying one at this time. I want something I can back 20-40 GBs of photos on and not worry about space
The 64GB looks nice but by the time you get that and the camera connection kit you are in almost $900 with taxes. If it had a built-in USB port or a SD Card reader I would probably make the jump. It's just not quite there for me for the price.
I guess I will stick with my Acer Aspire One for a few more trips unless there is killer app that I must have on the iPad
I have the 32GB model. I guess we do shoot "small" jpg photos. I just checked my master photo archive folder and it is a bit under 27GB, and that is for ALL the photos we've taken since we first got a digital camera in 2001. (And we are the folks who have our 10,000+ vacation photos running on our AppleTV, so we don't skimp on taking photos!) We take lots of photos but I guess these figures suggest that we are clearly not 'pros' (no RAW or high megapixel size). But for our use (which is not to put photos onto paper) we're happy.
As for the camera connection kit, ah, there's the rub. I've been checking daily (hourly? ) and it's still not appearing in the stores. A few have begun arriving for people who ordered online weeks ago. Yesterday I tried to order online and got a delivery date that's two weeks after we leave the U.S. So I'm punting, and polishing my "Plan B" (and C, and D). IAC, I have the iPad loaded with: travel guides, maps (and other offline references), RS videos, language dictionaries, and our TripIt itinerary. So it will find other uses, if not photos.
And then there is that challenge of being able to print our RyanAir boarding passes....
I wish, I wish, I wish that Apple would have just added a SD card slot to the iPad and just added on an extra $40 to the price. It would have made everything so much simpler. They never seem to have the necessary accessories available when you need them.
